Sharks join NHL player exodus to Europe

DIGEST

Updated 11:47 pm, Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The stream of NHL players to Europe picked up apace Wednesday, with two Sharks among those signing contracts to play abroad for the duration of the NHL's lockout.

Forward T.J. Galiardi is headed to the Bietigheim Steelers, a team based in Bietigheim-Bissingen and playing in Germany's second-tier league; and forward Tommy Wingels will play for KooKoo, based in Kouvola and playing in Finland's second-tier league.

That makes it six San Jose players who have signed in Europe. Joe Thornton is playing for Davos and Logan Couture for Geneve-Servette in Switzerland, Douglas Murray for Djurgarden in Sweden and Jason Demers for Oulun Karpat in Finland.

-- Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league has no timetable for when it will start calling off regular season games, which are scheduled to begin next Thursday. "Obviously, we've been saying for over a month now that we would welcome a new proposal from the players' association. That continues to be our position," Daly said.

ELSEWHERE

Ronaldo's hat trick powers Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo's second hat trick in four days led Real Madrid to a 4-1 win over Ajax that gives Madrid a maximum six points in Group D of the Champions League.

It was Ronaldo's first Champions League hat trick and came after he also scored three against Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish league Sunday. He has 12 goals in 10 games in all competitions this season. With 42 goals, he is the eighth player to score more than 40 in the Champions League.

Jurisprudence: Former Arkansas linebacker Bret Harris was arrested Tuesday evening for allegedly threatening on his Twitter account to kill the school's head athletic trainer. Harris, 23, is charged with a felony count of terroristic threatening against Matt Summers, who is in his fourth year as the Razorbacks' trainer.

College football: Georgia head coach Mark Richt said leading receiver Michael Bennett will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee during practice Tuesday. Bennett leads the fifth-ranked Bulldogs with 24 catches for 345 yards.

-- Florida linebacker Jelani Jenkins (thumb) is expected to play Saturday against No. 4 LSU after missing the previous two games.

Tennis: Defending champion Andy Murray advanced to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo by beating Lukas Lacko 6-1, 6-2.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.